The number of cannabis farms being uncovered by police in Reading has halved in the last year.

Exclusive figures given to getreading's data centre under a Freedom of Information act revealed five properties growing cannabis were found by Thames Valley Police officers in Reading in 2014/15 compared to 10 the year before.

The drop of cannabis production units in Bracknell was the same - although the numbers were slightly smaller. Police in Bracknell Forest found two drug farms in the last year, down from three in 2013/14. This was matched again in West Berkshire were police found one cannabis farm in the last year - 50 per cent down on the year before.

In Wokingham the figures stayed the same with police uncovering one cannabis farm a year for the last three years.

Commercial cultivation of cannabis or a cannabis farm is defined by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) as 25 or more plants, at any stage of growth, or any premises that has been adapted for the production of cannabis, with things like hydroponic lighting systems and ventilation and with electricity meters bypassed.

The local policing teams' figures matched the force trend with the number of cannabis farms across the Thames Valley dropping from 64 in 2013/14 to 37 in 2014/15.

Police recorded a total of 35 cultivation of cannabis offences in 2014/15, including 17 in Reading and 10 in West Berkshire, a big drop from the 131 recorded in 2013/14.

In 2014/15 officers at the 18 English and Welsh police forces that were able to provide figures said they found 1,252 cannabis farms. However, this was down more than a quarter (28.6 per cent) from 1,825 in 2013/14 and more than two-fifths (43.3 per cent) from their peak of 2,208 in 2011/12.

Across the forces that provided information, there were 6.8 cannabis farms for every 100,000 people in 2014/15.

Figures from ACPO and those released under FOI suggest for these forces the numbers of cannabis farms found peaked in 2011/12, at 2,208 and numbers have been falling ever since, with the 2014/15 figures the lowest since 1,185 in 2008/09.

Other forces were able to provide information about the number of offences of producing cannabis they have recorded, which suggests a similar pattern of falling numbers.

The 24 forces providing information recorded 6,099 production of cannabis offences in 2014/15, down 12.3 per cent from 6,958 in 2013/14 and a fifth (22 per cent) from 7,828 in 2012/13.